Amazon Swords

[TaTeR ToT]

i am looking for a good place to buy nice Amazon Swords.
i really like these plants and want them for my 75g SA/CA Tank.
i want big healthy swords.


also i would like to know some care of these plants; ie lighting, do the require co2, what kind of substrate, flow, and if a powerhead with air will have any negative effects?

please lmk.

right now i have a Sealife 48" 4x 96watt Compact Flourescent Light on a 12 hour cycle.
my substrate consists of large Pea Gravel from home depot. it ranges from 1/4"-5/8" gravel, i have ~3" layer.
and i am running 1x Ehiem 2217 Canister, 1x Eheim Pro 2224 Canister, and an Oddysea 350 powerhead/pre-filter and venturi effect.

lmk if this is ok.

[armthehomeless]

Amazon swords (and any sword for that matter) are root feeders. You'll want to get fertilizer tabs/ plant substrate/ laterite to put near the roots. Although CO2 is always beneficial, it is not necessary. You already plenty of filtration and your lighting is probably adequate. What is the K rating on the bulbs? Age?

From what I have seen PetSmart ge amazing amazon swrd from time to time at a great price. You just have to be there when they get them in or shortly thereafter... Before they start detioating in quality. I'm sure you could find someone on the box that has one too....

[TaTeR ToT]

so like seachem root tabs?
and maybe some flourite mixed into the gravel?
the 50/50 bulbs, and are probably pretty close to shot, they are around 6-8 months old, i have in total 4x 96 watt cf bulbs, for a total of 384 watts, but cut that in half do to them being compact flourescents, but that still gives me 192 watts on a 75g tank, so i dont think lighting will be an issue, but i will mix in my new 25lb bag of flourite into the substrate and add seachem flourish excel every other day and add seachem root tabs weekly, and that should be ok right?

[armthehomeless]

I think the useable wattage for plants would be cut in half because of the 50/50... not the fact that they are compact fluorescent.

I had success with a fluorite substrate for swords... as far as the tabs.... I'm pretty sure you won't need to do it weekly.

Go for it.

[TaTeR ToT]

cool, thanx tim:)
btw, i meant due to them being 50/50, lol

im dumb

[eklikewhoa]

If you are doing this in a tank with heavy hardscape then you could use clay pots filled with plant substrate for the swords and just hide the pots.

I would think about decreasing your photo-period with no supplements or you could be asking for nutrient deficiencies.

[TaTeR ToT]

cool, i will decrease it to 9 hours, and i have some 4" clay pots, so i will try that, i really didnt want to have to mix anything into my gravel.

thanx guys:)

[mahoro]

when i had those swords... co2 or not matters non.. they just need rich substrate but for some reason i had problem with snails eating it...